Modern Day Miracle

It's really real. We passed Embassy. This was not supposed to happen. Relative to the current process, concerning Ethiopian adoption, us clearing at Embassy level in four weeks is literally a modern day miracle. We remain awestruck. 

Rewind... I wasn't able to sleep the morning of March 8th, knowing that 3:30am our time translated to 11:30am in Ethiopia so I did what any desperate adoptive parent would do, I emailed the Embassy directly hoping to receive an answer to calm my restlessness. After sending not one but five emails (yes, that reads five) I eventually fell back asleep feeling a small dose of relief and woke again an hour before school began for the kids. My hand instinctively reached for the iPhone and in a moment I saw the message that changed everything. It was from the Vice Council at the US Embassy in Ethiopia and after reading through two paragraphs of explanation as to why we hadn't heard any updates, I'd about given up hope and then the last paragraph hit me like a ton of bricks... specifically the underlined sentence reading: 'That said, I’ve reviewed the additional documents you submitted as part of your own investigation of the abandonments of Sena and Mohammed and we’ve decided to move forward with the visa interviews for both children.' 

I. Was. In. Shock.

We have been waiting for this moment for over two and a half years and I had often daydreamed about what it would feel like. With full disclosure I admit that the reality far outweighed  the dream and somehow in my euphoric state I managed to phone AJ. Let me preface that I never call him before 8:00am, primarily because I'm not much of a morning person, but in this instance I was hopped up on glee and happy as could be. He was doing his hair while driving (yes, I scolded him) and initially thought I had either hurt myself or one of the kids were sick because why else would I be phoning. Eventually after a few attempts at sharing the news of us passing he was able to decipher my mumbling between sobs, screamed (a manly scream of course) and began crying himself. I told the kids as soon as they woke wherein Sophia smiled bigger than I had ever seen her smile previously, Etienne almost didn't believe me and Charlotte loving proclaimed that her baby twins were coming home. In celebration mode, the rest of the morning was spent working out travel arrangements, packing, planning and dancing because we were seriously that happy!

Fast forward... As a family we are boarding a plane destined for Ethiopia this Friday. All five of us are traveling to reunite with the littlest of Finks half way around the world. I am a bit apprehensive when I think about five to two ratio on the flight home, but the joy of finally reaching this point  and the thought of us all being together diminishes my fears. Our Embassy date is March 21st and from that moment on it is done, we will officially be a family of seven and this roller coaster ride is shut down!

We. Are. Almost. There.

Laurent

Nicasio